Best. Cookies. Ever.

I've been making chocolate chip cookies for most of my life, but I can never seem to master the perfect cookie, especially according to my all-too-picky-about-his-cookies husband. I want my cookies crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle, and packed with chocolatey goodness. Awhile back I stumbled on a recipe on Yahoo claiming to be an "All-Star Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe," so on Sunday, after some whining encouragement from my band of loyal cookie testers, I set about to make the perfect chocolate chip cookies. According to the hubby, I finally succeeded (yay!) in creating a cookie that is both super tasty and the perfect texture. So, I thought I'd share the love and pass on the recipe. It has a couple of unique steps, but I followed the recipe to the letter, and it passed the perfect cookie inspection so I'd recommend doing it anyway, even if it seems strange :)


THICK & CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients:
2 1/8 c. all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 c. brown sugar (light or dark - I used light)
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 c. semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks


1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions.

2. Melt butter and cool slightly. I melted it in a small microwave bowl and then stuck it back into the freezer for a few minutes until it was opaque and creamy again, but still melty.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer (I opted for hand mixing), mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, egg yolk and vanilla.

4. In a second bowl, thoroughly mix together all the dry ingredients. Stir into the wet ingredients until just combined, and then stir in the chocolate chips.

5. "Form 1/4 c. dough into a ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough's uneven surface." That's what the original recipe says. Basically, I ripped the giant dough ball in half and then smushed the sides back together so that the two torn halves made up the top of the new dough ball. Not sure if that's exactly what it meant, but it worked for me!

6. Place formed dough onto parchment lined cookie sheet, about 9 dough balls per sheet (btw, these cookies are HUGE). Makes about 18-20 cookies.

7. Bake, reversing the cookie sheet's position halfway through baking, for 15-18 minutes until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden, yet centers are still soft and puffy. (Mine actually took 18-20 minutes, just keep a close eye on them).

8. IMPORTANT: Cool cookies on the cookie sheet to make sure they end up with the perfect texture! Dough can be frozen up to 1 month or refrigerated for up to 2 days, shaped or not.

ENJOY!

Posted in: Baking, Cookies